


The Principal's Office

by segfault



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Between Seasons/Series, Gen, High School, Missing Scene, when you refer some buddies for a job but they seem determined to screw it up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 04:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/segfault/pseuds/segfault
Summary: Frankenstein tries to adjust two former assassins to high school life. As if he didn't already have enough to deal with.





	The Principal's Office

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GhostJ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostJ/gifts).



> Set after the end of season 2.

"Good morning, Principal!"

"Principal Lee, how was your weekend?"

"What's with the new faces, Principal Lee?" This last was Ms. Chang, the PE teacher, who was coming the other way down the hall, dragging a mesh bag of soccer cleats.

Frankenstein, mind on the upcoming week, still trying to settle himself back into his role as sane and totally non-murderous high school principal, paused mid-stride. He had almost forgotten the ex-Union operatives who were following him, a matching pair of sleek, dark-suited assassins now trailing his steps as dutifully as ducklings. Now Ms. Chang was stopped before them, cleats completely forgotten, as she smiled curiously up at Tao, and even further up at Takeo.

"What, these two?" said Frankenstein, with a glibness belied by his smooth side-step that just so happened to insert himself between the gym teacher and the assassins. Ex-assassins. "I defeated them in mortal combat, and now they have to work for us."

Which wasn't far from the truth, actually.

It had been a bloody weekend, and part of him hadn't quite come back from it yet, his veins still singing sweetly with residual adrenaline, his fingers still itching with the remembered feel of stretching out at last, luxuriating in his limits released, his power unfurling... The ever-present and ever-seductive whisper of Dark Spear in his ear was always a little closer, stronger, after it had been let out to play. Right now it was giddily encouraging him to shred the two enemies at his back. Instead he bent over and helped pick up some escaped soccer cleats.

"How fun, new coworkers!" said Ms. Chang, unabashedly accepting the bag back. "Just in time for final exams this week."

"Easier than putting up job listings," said Frankenstein, at the same time Tao quipped, "Your Principal Lee was a fearsome opponent." 

Truer than Ms. Chang could know, but it was Takeo's expression that darkened at that. Small wonder, considering he'd come this close to dying at Frankenstein's hands, every scrap of him consumed whole by Dark Spear. But, given that he'd had the audacity to threaten Master in the first place, why not call it even?

"Tao, Takeo, why don't the two of you wait for me in my office," Frankenstein said, motioning down the hall. "I need to chat with Ms. Chang about some things."

The two ex-operatives exchanged a glance that spoke of long familiarity and accustomed teamwork. Takeo headed off wordlessly, while Tao stopped to wink and smile at Ms. Chang. "Ooh, looks like we're getting sent to the principal's office already."

Frankenstein made the shooing motion again, this time more emphatically. "We'll do proper introductions at the staff meeting on Friday. Now, about the new soccer field..."

 

* * *

 

It was only a few minutes later that Frankenstein entered his office, but he found Tao already flitting around the room like a black hummingbird, hovering here and there to fiddle with a desk trinket, or touch the glass front of the cabinet of knick-knacks. After shooting the computer on the desk a look of disdain, he glided over to the bookcase, where he tip-tapped his fingers over each book at eye level, black-polished nails flashing in succession as they walked their way along the shelf. 

"Isn't this one a little on the nose?" he said, lingering on the spine of one of the few English novels: Mary Shelley. Without seeming to wait for a response, though, he was already moving on, now nosing through the filing cabinets without a hint of shame.

Takeo, meanwhile, had taken only the minimal number of steps needed to be considered physically within the room, and was standing resolute and still just inside the doorway, seemingly disinclined to sit down on the perfectly good couch in front of him. He moved one step to the side to allow Frankenstein room to get in, no more. 

"M-21 will be able to introduce your jobs properly," said Frankenstein, "but let's take care of the paperwork here first." He sat down behind his desk and started the computer, which whirred dutifully to life, and inexplicably made Tao snort to himself.

"Tao," he said sweetly, as the young man muttered something about SSDs. "Will you take out that manila folder? From the drawer you just closed. I'll need the two of you to fill out a copy each of those forms."

Tao hesitated just a moment, but seemed to stop himself short of looking warily over his shoulder at his former teammate. He covered it up with a cheery, "you got it!"

Frankenstein opened a drawer at his own desk, rifling through the thick stack of papers with a thumb and stopping at precisely the right spot, extracting the stapled receipt for the uniforms he'd ordered for M-21 earlier in the year. Appearances were so important, and these three would be the face of security at Ye Ran high school. They had to look sharp. 

As he jotted himself a note to order the new sizes for their two new recruits, he stopped to give them another long, considering glance. Takeo still hadn't deigned to step further into the room, and Tao had handed him a pen from the desk, along with a hardback to use as a writing surface - the novel Frankenstein, in fact. Cheeky. 

Tao, meanwhile, had perched himself on the back of the couch, and was devouring the forms, eyes scanning rapidly over the pages. At the end of it, he looked up with surprise. "So you're really hiring us? To work here? At this school?"

It was the same question Frankenstein was asking himself. At this rate, they would soon have more ex-Union agents on the payroll than the Union itself. But, these men hadn't joined up with the Union of their own volition, or any desire for power. They had been experimented on against their will, their suffering ignored, their lives ultimately discarded, an echo of Frankenstein's own victims that he could no longer do right by. More importantly, they had his Master's silent approval, and Master had always been a good judge of character.

"You're here to watch over the children," Frankenstein said, and let a hint of Dark Spear sharpen his smile, "And after what you did, I dare say you owe it to them."

 

* * *

 

Frankenstein spent the morning trying to resist the urge to check in on his Master, whom he could perfectly well sense was sitting peaceably only a few hallways down. 

Instead, he busied himself with work. Only after he'd finished a suitable amount did he allow himself a trip to the cafeteria, where he could verify for himself the stock and quality of ramen available for when the hungry students bore down. Frankenstein stopped to share some of the latest results of his noodle research with the cooks to ensure optimal ramen experience for his Master's lunch. Everything seemed to be in order.

When he got back to his office, a student was sitting on the floor of the hallway beside his door, face buried in his knees, arms crossed loosely over them. Frankenstein could tell as much from the bandaged knuckles as the distinctive shock of red hair whom it must be.

"Shinwoo?" he said, hoping against hope that his most delinquent student was here for something innocuous. Forms, perhaps. A social call. "Why aren't you in class?"

"Ms. Chang sent me," said Shinwoo, not looking up. "I was late to PE."

Frankenstein felt a strange stab of relief. Shinwoo was probably exhausted and needed a nap. It was unfortunate that the children had gotten caught up in events over the weekend, and right before finals, no less. Even more so that their memories had needed to be erased. Shinwoo probably had no idea why he was so tired. At least he hadn't gotten into a fight--

"I got into a fight before class. She told me to go to the nurse and then come straight here." He finally met Frankenstein's eyes with a crooked smile. Or maybe that was just one side of his lip beginning to swell. "Believe me, the other guy looks worse."

So those bandages on his hand were fresh after all. Frankenstein bit back a sigh, and waved Shinwoo in. "That's the third time this month, Shinwoo. What's going on?"

Shinwoo entered the office and sprawled on the white couch with a disheartening familiarity. Frankenstein wanted to think that it was because they were on good terms from socializing outside of school, but more likely it was that Shinwoo had been in the principal's office almost as much as he'd been in a classroom, and should practically be earning frequent flier miles. The file with Shinwoo's name on it was bulging with pages, and felt worryingly heavy when Frankenstein pulled it out.

"That bastard thinks he's entitled to whatever he wants," Shinwoo muttered, picking at the bandage.

"If another student is causing trouble, then you should let the authorities handle it. That would be me, or security. You may have noticed we have new guards on campus starting today."

"That wouldn't work, I had to stop him. He's been--" but Shinwoo broke off here, seemingly unwilling to divulge more.

Frankenstein shook his head, and made a note in the file. "You know my policy, Shinwoo. If you get involved in one more altercation this semester..."

But Shinwoo only crossed his arms. Frankenstein had gotten to know that stubbornness well over the years.

"Well, I won't tell you what you already know. Go back to class. And at least try to stay out of trouble until the new semester? Even _you_ can make it five days."

 

* * *

 

"You called, boss?" Tao's head peeked around the doorframe, a smirk not quite hiding his nervousness. Takeo walked past him and again stood just past the threshold. 

"I called Takeo," Frankenstein corrected. 

"Just wanted to see what the fuss was about." Tao slipped in and closed the door behind him, stepping up to stand next to his former teammate.

At this point, Frankenstein didn't have the patience to pursue the issue. "Takeo, you were assigned to the eastern wing of the school this morning, correct?" he asked. 

Takeo said nothing. 

"Are you aware that two students got into a fight last period?"

When it became clear Takeo wasn't going to respond, Tao jumped in, literally placing himself half a step in front of Takeo, as though trying to block the taller man from sight. "We were monitoring the situation, Boss. Neither of them sustained serious injuries--"

Frankenstein's anger, already at a low simmer, began to creep toward boiling point. With Tao's charisma, his adaptability in different situations, it was easy to forget that he was no more well adjusted than Takeo. In his old life, a puffed lip, a black eye, would have been nothing remarkable. But this was a school, and these children were under Frankenstein's care. What would it take to step in, a broken bone?

Seemingly oblivious to the danger he was in, Tao was still talking: "--we know firsthand how well Shinwoo can handle himself in a fight--" Frankenstein flashed to a memory of a bloody and bruised Shinwoo, defending the other children against far stronger foes, Tao and Takeo among them. He could tell when Tao remembered the same thing because he abruptly stopped speaking.

"He should not need to handle himself," Frankenstein said icily, slowly, to avoid lashing out, as part of him wanted. "There should be no violence at my school. And Tao?" It had not escaped his attention that all his ire was focused on Tao now, that he'd nearly forgotten Takeo as Tao continued to ramble on. That was clearly intentional. "I'd like to hear from Takeo himself."

Tao opened his mouth to say something, then looked away.

"I mishandled the situation," said Takeo. "My apologies. I will intervene if there is violence."

Frankenstein tempered his response with admirable control, if he said so himself. "See that you do."

 

* * *

 

Ms. Chang stopped by in the afternoon to let Frankenstein know how much the students loved the soccer field, which was so new its lines still smelled of fresh paint. Frankenstein thought "loved" was probably a bit of an exaggeration for any class activity, but he had sensed how much his Master had enjoyed the mundane activity of running on the grass with his classmates.

Not too long after, it was time for his appointment with Ms. Kim, the physics teacher. Frankenstein spent a while reviewing her proposal for the new curriculum, all the while doodling in the margins some designs for a new track field. The standardized testing curricula had changed again, and even as students were battling this semester's finals, all the teachers were already scrambling to figure out how to prepare them for their next ones. Frankenstein knew a few ways to inject knowledge directly into brains, some literal, but admittedly few that Master would have approved of. He supposed Ms. Kim's plan was a passable alternative. 

After that, it was time to get ready for the school-wide assembly. He got his notes in order, neatened up his tie, and then climbed out his window and took the short hop to the roof. As expected, M-21 was up here, watching the school's perimeter with a focus that pulled his face into a tight frown. When he saw Frankenstein, he gave a small nod, but didn't turn away from his watch. 

"How do you think the new guys are doing?" said Frankenstein casually. 

M-21 didn't seem to know how to respond. "It took me a while to adjust too." Then he finally looked up. "I take full responsibility for their mistakes," he added quickly. "I'm the one who asked you to find a place for them here." 

"I understand this is a different life than they're used to."

"It's not just what they're used to. If they're like me, they've never known anything else. The lab, the experiments, the missions. That was the whole world to them, for as long as they can remember, because every memory from before then was stolen from them. They have to learn all new rules, new expectations, and that takes time." 

Frankenstein briefly considered the brain injection techniques again, then discarded the idea. "I'm planning to have them keep an eye on the students during the assembly. It should be good practice for them. You can stay at your post." 

M-21 took some time to think that over. "I suppose nothing bad should happen during assembly. I'll keep an eye out from up here," he promised, and leapt away onto the next rooftop.

 

* * *

 

The school assembly was tradition for the first day of finals. Frankenstein stood on stage and gave the normal speech, something encouraging and motivational that he could do on autopilot, while he used the opportunity to look over the children in his care. They probably thought that, in the darkness of the auditorium, he couldn't see them shooting rubber bands at each other, cramming for their next exams, or playing games on their mobile phones. (He could.) 

His Master sat with his friends near the back: Shinwoo passed out, the girls' heads lolling, Ikhan yawning into the back of his hand. The weekend had been hard on them. Frankenstein would try to have a word with the teachers, without making it look like he was playing favorites.

Tao and Takeo were stationed at opposite sides of the auditorium, Tao languidly pacing up and down the aisles, Takeo standing rigidly in place, motionless except the slow scan of his eyes. As the assembly went on, Takeo seemed to notice something, and went even more still, which was worrying. Just as Frankenstein started to wonder if he should have put M-21 in here instead of the two new guards, Takeo lunged forward, surging down a row of seats and yanking a student up by the back of his uniform. Seojun Young, one of the bigger kids in the school, found himself flailing helplessly in midair, and then slammed against the wall. Out of his slack hand dropped--

A rubber band gun. 

Over the chaos of the yelling students, Tao rushing over to help his partner, the auditorium doors slamming open and M-21 racing in, Frankenstein shouted a dismissal. Heavens, he was going to have to have another assembly just to deal with the trauma from this one. He stepped off the stage and marched over to where M-21 was trying to wrestle Takeo off Seojun and Tao was trying to get between them all.

"M-21, calm the children down and get them to their next exam. Tao, take Seojun to the nurse. He knows where it is. Takeo." Frankenstein turned ominously. The only thing stopping him from lashing out was his Master's gaze on the back of his head. Well, that and the 400 other pairs of watching eyes of his students. " _In my office._ "

 

* * *

 

"I saw a weapon. I evaluated the worst case scenario, and the highest probability, and decided I had to act."

"You saw this," Frankenstein set the rubber band gun on his desk with deceptive gentleness, "in a high school, and thought the highest probability was that it was an actual gun."

"According to my experience, yes," said Takeo, and Frankenstein tried to remind himself that, for all his enhancements, Takeo probably couldn't see that well in the dark, and it was probably true that he had seen more real guns in his life than ones that shot rubber bands. He tried, but it didn't do much for the deep, pulsating anger, that not only had another one of his children been attacked, but it was by one of the very guards he'd set there to protect them. 

"According to your experience," he snarled. "Are you planning to live your whole life being exactly what the Union made you?" He slammed his palm on the desk, which woke his computer. As the monitor flashed to life, a distant part of him noticed that it looked different somehow.

"It's all I've ever known."

Somehow M-21's words being so spot-on didn't make Frankenstein feel any better. "Is that what you want, to go back to being a test subject?" he said nastily, "A mindless tool?" 

"Perhaps that would be best," said Takeo quietly, and the anger hissed out of him. It occurred to Frankenstein suddenly that he'd never outlined the consequences of failure. For all Takeo knew, that was where he'd return if he failed at his current role.

A loud chime suddenly interrupted them. Frankenstein looked down sharply at the unfamiliar computer at his desk, and saw Tao's face grinning at him from the monitor. Now that he looked more closely, he realized it was at least twice the size of his old one.

"Hey Boss! I'm in the infirmary with Seojun. Turns out he's fine, not even a bruise. The little sneak is trying to get out of taking the rest of his finals now..." Tao's expression grew more uncertain as Frankenstein met this with silence. "Er, Boss? You okay?"

"Tao."

"Yes, Boss?"

"Where is my computer?"

"Oh." Tao tried a chuckle. "I got you a new one, what do you think? It's state of the art, four-ex the RAM of your old one, plus I added this app so you can video chat with us any time."

Frankenstein suddenly realized why Tao, so far so protective of his one remaining teammate, was willing to let him step into Frankenstein's office alone. "Did you bug my office?"

"So like I was saying," Tao continued hastily, "Takeo didn't really hurt the kid at all. I'm sure he'll be more careful next time. Won't he."

A beat.

" _Won't he?_ " Tao repeated.

"He will." Takeo crossed his arms, a gesture that reminded Frankenstein of Shinwoo sprawled on the couch just a few hours ago. 

"You've been in my office more times today than Shinwoo. And Shinwoo sets records."

"Oh! Boss!" came Tao's excited voice through the speakers. "Speaking of Shinwoo, I found out what was going on with him too. I talked to Ikhan between classes. Turns out some guy got rejected by a girl but he won't take no for an answer. Shinwoo has been walking her to class every day since, which is why he's always late to his. Apparently the guy tried something earlier, hence the fight."

"Really," said Frankenstein darkly, and it was no small part of him that was delighted to finally have a target for his aggressions. "You know who the student is?"

"Sure do, Boss!" 

A great many ideas ran through Frankenstein's head all at once. Some of them would never get by his Master, but one or two seemed perfectly within the bounds of a sane and totally non-murderous school principal.

Something of his scheming seemed to be showing on his face, because even Takeo was taking a step back, which pressed him up against the wall, and Tao was saying nervously, "Boss? Boss?" 

Frankenstein focused back on the present. "Takeo, please remember what we talked about. You're dismissed. Tao? Send that student to my office. Tell him to come immediately."


End file.
